1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to controlling computers, augmentative and alternative communication devices (AAC devices), environmental control units (ECUs), power wheelchairs, multiplexers, or other apparatus in response to outputs from transducers that are actuated by human effort. More particularly, the present invention relates to controlling computers, AAC devices, and/or other apparatus by any type of user-actuated transducers, such as joystick X-Y controllers, or body-member-attached transducers, such as tilt transducers, or proximity transducers, such as ultrasonic transducers. The electrical signals are differentiated, and mouse-switching functions, such as click or click and drag, other computer switching and/or selecting function such as macro selecting and “hot key” selecting, are accessed and controlled in response to the differentiated electrical signals. In addition, the differentiated signals may be used to switch user-actuated control of the transducers from a computer, to a power wheelchair, to a multiplexer, or any other suitable apparatus, and back to the computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years there has been an increasing awareness of the importance, not only providing for the needs of handicapped persons, but also of utilizing them as productive members of society, rather than allowing them partially or wholly dependent upon others.
Fortunately, this enlightened view has coincided with giant strides in technology, particularly electronics and computed-based technology, and this increase in technology has been reflected by giant strides in electrically propelled wheelchairs.
The prior art includes electrically propelled wheelchairs in which control of start, stop, and steering has been achieved by manually actuated X-Y transducers, commonly called “joysticks.”
Lautzenhiser et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,906, which issued on Mar. 6, 1990, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,899, which issued on Dec. 18, 1990, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,165, which issued on Apr. 30, 1991, teach power wheelchairs that are propelled by pulse-width-modulated voltages, that are dynamically braked by shorting the motors between pulses, that are made freewheeling without the expense and complexity of a clutch, and in which tremor control is provided, so that those who have hand tremors can easily and accurately control power wheelchairs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,624, which issued on Dec. 14, 1993, Lautzenhiser teaches apparatus and method for adjustably minimizing variations of speed of a power wheelchair that ordinarily result from changes in motor torque caused by variations in grade, resilience of floor material, and/or roughness of terrain.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,807, which issued on Jun. 3, 1997, Lautzenhiser provides: signal limiting so that maximum speeds can be selectively adjusted; adjustable transducer sensitivity; adjustable steering sensitivity control; and overrange shutdown.
The above-recited improvements have so greatly enhanced ease of controllability that many handicapped persons, who were previously unable to control a wheelchair by a joystick, can now do so with ease. Perhaps even more significantly, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,807, Lautzenhiser has taken the art a giant step forward by replacing the joystick with two tiny transducers that are mounted to a person's head, spaced behind a person's head, or mounted to an other body member.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/352,346, filed Jan. 27, 2003, now abandoned, but incorporated into the present patent application, Lautzenhiser teaches a tilt X-Y transducer that may be mounted to a body component, such as the head or a hand of a user; an automatic nulling device; an adjustable null width that does not attenuate an electrical signal; a turn-signal conditioner that provides easier control of turns and elimination of “fishtailing;” adjustable tilt-axis sensitivity to selectively match the motor skills of the user; control of a second device, such as a computer or an environmental control unit (ECU); and use of voice-recognition technology to provide various switching operations.
Finally, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/801,201, which was filed on Mar. 7, 2001, not abandoned, and also incorporated into the present patent application, Lautzenhiser et al. teach head, or body-member, control of apparatus in which electrical signals from mechanical-to-electrical transducers provide proportional control, and rate-of-change electrical signals of the same transducers control switching operations of such devices as computers or ECU's.
In the present invention, rate-of-change switches function in conjunction with electrical signals produced by user-actuated transducers of any type: to control movement of display cursors, to control click and click and drag functions of display cursors, to control AAC devices and or ECUs, to control comfort needs such as adjusting leg supports, head supports, and backrests of beds or wheelchairs, to control personal comfort needs such as heating, cooling, and lighting, and to control entertainment devices, such as radios or television sets. Alternately, the present invention may be used to control speeds and turns of power wheelchairs and/or to select and control any of a plurality of functions via a multiplexer.
Considering now those who have good motor skills, touch typing depends upon having one's hands located in standard positions on a keyboard so that any key may be struck without the necessity of looking at the keyboard.
Typically, when using modern computer programs, a computer mouse is moved over a desk surface, and a cursor moves on a monitor or display device proportional to movement of the mouse. Using the mouse, the cursor is moved to “point” to an icon or words on the display device representing a desired computer program or to a computer function. Then the user “clicks” on the program or function by pressing a button on the mouse, thereby activating the selected program or function. The user may press the same or an other button on the mouse to “drag” computer information, such as a file or an icon, from one location to an other.
The invention and popular use of “point, click, and drag” programs have been both a help and a nuisance to computer users. “Point, click, and drag” programs have relieved computer users of the necessity of remembering and using complex commands to actuate programs and program operating procedures. But, they have degraded the typing skill of good typists because of the need to move a hand from the keyboard to a mouse.
Thus, the mouse of the present invention, that can be worn on the human head, much as a telephone headset is worn, or as an integral part of a telephone headset, allows a touch typist to keep both hands on standard positions on the keyboard while pointing, clicking, and dragging with the head-attached mouse.
Whether it be a commercial user who takes orders on the telephone, an industrial user who does computer-assisted drawing, or a home owner, the head-attached mouse of the present invention provides increased productivity.
With regard to the physically handicapped, use of the head-attached mouse of the present invention, together with an additional human interface provided by the present invention, allows use of complex computer programs, such as computer-assisted drawing programs, even by those who are paralyzed from the neck down. Further, the present invention enables persons with severely limited motor skills to operate a computer, including performing point, click, and drag operations, by use of any suitable type of user-actuated transducer, such as a joystick X-Y controller.